23 Egypt Islamists sentenced for 10 yrs

An Egyptian court on Sunday sentenced 23 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to 10 years in prison for inciting violence near a media complex here in 2013.The court also slapped a hefty fine of about USD 35,000 on the members convicted of inciting violence near Media Production City besides clashing with security forces and attempting to kill police officers and conscripts. Eleven defendants were present during the trial while the others were sentenced in absentia. Thirteen other defendants were acquitted in the same case.

Since Islamist ex-President Mohamed Morsi’s ouster in 2013, the Egypt has been cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters. Morsi himself was sentenced to death in May along with Mohamed Badie, the supreme guide of Muslim Brotherhood and over hundred Islamist leaders for a mass prison break during the 2011 revolution which toppled former President Hosni Mubarak.